Red Flowers and White Lies
by VoicesOfAngels
Summary: "Nice to do business with you, Uto." Selquiorra looked down at the sleeping child and smirked. "I'll be seeing you again soon," whispered Seluqiorra as he walked across the room and placed the baby in the king's arms, "Orihime-chan." (My old account name was 'ChimamareNoTsuki'. I take full credit for this story.)


_Prologue: Fire_

_Fire. _Its red, hot, burning tongues reached towards the sky as its terror struck down upon the royal human city of _Kyosu_. The screams and intense smell of charred flesh licked at the senses of the emerald eyed demon as he drifted above this chaos and a wide smile of blood-lust stretched across his pale face. His long onyx hair flowed upwards with the draft of musty hot air, his large black wings stretched themselves out, and the demon relished in the feeling of the smooth air currents flowing around his persona. Trailing behind, peeling off of his long bony fingers in rolling drops of crimson, blood fell to the earth.

Gracefully, the demon lifted his claws up to his lips and, slowly, his tongue snaked out and dragged itself across the wet surface. He savored the blood –toyed with it- and playfully he did not allowing the warm liquid to be swallowed, so as to let it roll over his tongue.

As he approached the outer wall of the burning castle of Kyosu, he smiled. Dipping low, the demon flew over the castle's gardens and low terraces, aflame. He weaved in between the crackling cherry-blossom trees that littered themselves here and there and let out a low chuckle at the destruction that ensued. Then he looked. His eyes searched throughout the place, scrutinizing hungrily for an opening into the towering structure that wasn't swarmed with the King's guards. Being seen and having arrows falling from the sky about him did not appeal to the demon king at all.

Spotting a lone window that put forth the warm light of a torch the demon drew near. He flew to the breach in the castle's face and drifted in, changing his form to that of his humanoid self.

The demon studied his surroundings. It was warm inside, he noticed, although that might have had to due with the place being lit on fire. It was also dark. The flames hat yet to reach this part of the castle and the only light that licked the walls were those of the torches strung high on the walls that made the hallway. These lights accented the archways of a couple oak doors to his right and to his left. However, the demon could not sense a presence in these rooms so he ignored them altogether. His attention was then attracted to the lack of ornaments that adorned this part of the fortress. Only a large maroon rug centering the brick floor, stretching down the all the way down the hall till it cut off and the path curved right. He followed the carpet.

The curve in the hallway soon brought him to a room. The arch of the twin mahogany doors was larger than those of the rooms previous, and an emblem was strewn at the top of the curve. A silver wolf embraced in the arms of the golden figure of a woman and bordered by swords; the royal crest.

The demon cackled.

His sudden glee quickly brought about the arrival of five guards and his laughter quickly died down to a smile as he carelessly approached them. He took no time in dispatching them and bursting through the double doors. A scream of surprise caused him to turn his attention to the young women holding something in her arms. The object, quickly identified as a baby was hugged closely to the chest of the young mother.

She wore a long flowing gown, made from silk of royal colors. A small gold crown sat atop her head. She had large brown eyes, which were browner than leaves of fall, and long orange hair that ran down her back. Tears prickled her eyes as she held the baby close and shuffled away from the demon king.

Without hesitation the demon king rushed across the room and reached his long black hand to the women's throat. He smiled as he heard the cracking sound come from her neck as he constricted his hand around it. He finished the deed quickly by finally snapping the women's neck into an awkward position, letting one final, loud crack escape from it.

Her eyes went dead and their previous sparkle was quickly diminished leaving nothing but the look of pure terror on her face. The king rolled his eyes back in pleasure as he enjoyed the pure ecstasy coming form the expression on her cold face. The fear, oh the pleasure it gave him.

His green eyes then shifted to the child the women held, still clasped tightly in her loving grasp despite her dead state. It was sleeping peacefully, unaware of the chaos being wrecked around it. The king yanked the baby from her mother's grasp, letting her drop to the floor in front of him, and held it up to his face.

"Stop!"

A loud voice projected itself across the room to the demon king's ears. He slowly turned around, the baby still grasped firmly in his hand.

"Uto, how nice to see you." a low, dark, husky voice escaped his lips in reply. The king of Kyosu, Uto-sama, was a built, middle aged man with a large beard and long brown hair. The king's gray eyes darkened.

"Where's my wife?" he hissed. The demon kings eyebrows went up in surprise.

"Are you talking about this woman?" he asked as he stepped out of the way to reveal the dead body of the queen. The king's eyes widened a bit then were flushed out with anger and sadness.

"I'll kill you, Selquiorra. I'll kill you!" The king screamed as he charged at Selquiorra. The demon king quickly and gracefully avoided the angered man's attacks. He appeared in front of the king with a flash and shook his finger as he clicked his tongue.

"I wouldn't do that. You might injure your daughter."

The king stopped his attack and looked at the sleeping figure that was his daughter. Tufts of orange hair stuck to her forehead as she slept. The king's eyes softened a bit.

"What do you want, Selquiorra?"

The demon king smiled.

"Your daughter. I wish for my son to wed her. I already know that she posses the power of the Shun Shun Rika. You cannot hide that from me, so I wish for my son, Ulquiorra, to marry her." The demon king answered, amusement imprinted in his voice. The king's eyes darkened.

"And what do you hold over my head that could compare to my daughter's life!?" The king hissed.

"Your kingdom. If your daughter doesn't marry my son on her seventeenth birthday, then she and your kingdom shall die." said the demon king with a smile planted on his face. The king's eyes saddened as he thought of loop-holes but found none. "Well?" asked Selquiorra, pressuring the king further.

". . . I will agree to this, albeit unwillingly, but mark my words, Selquiorra, if any harm comes to my daughter I will make sure that you will suffer through the worst of deaths." the king warned. Seluqiorra smiled.

"At the sake of your kingdom?" he teased.

"I'll make sure that when I pay for the lives I had sacrificed that I would drag you down to hell with me." the king said lowly. The demon king frowned. The two stared at each other before the demon king started up again.

"Nice to do business with you, Uto." Selquiorra looked down at the sleeping child and smirked.

"I'll be seeing you again soon," whispered Seluqiorra as he walked across the room and placed the baby in the king's arms, "Orihime-chan."


End file.
